One of my many goals in life is to reduce footprint on landfills. That is why I advocate and love to compost and repurpose items that would normally end up in recycling or trash. In Whole Foods’ “Hello, Beauty” bags, there is this wonderful shredded paper stuffing. You can have so much fun with the stuffing. Here are a few art projects I did with my two-year-old. You can use the shredded paper stuffing for all these projects! Have fun and enjoy!!

Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn are my favorite journalists, authors, and heroes. They shine the light on injustice and poverty while offering hope and joy when justice and opportunity is available to help those in desperate need. We can all do something to offer hope with the choices we make in life. We can choose to educate ourselves about human / animal rights and environmental issues we care deeply about in our core. To share that knowledge and inspire others to care and act upon those issues. Be creative in finding solutions to become a world changer on cause(s) you are passionate about.

I’m passionate about environmental issues and fighting modern slavery. I love to compost, eat healthy, and encourage others to care for the planet and themselves. I also am very passionate about fighting human trafficking and I would like to encourage you to watch Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn documentary on “A Path Appears.”  Grab a box of tissues if you cry easily like me when I hear about people’s painful past experiences. Be encourage because there is a hope and solutions that would inspire you to take action from A Path Appears.

RIJI Green is doing a special fundraiser for Fair Girls, a non-profit in Washington DC helping American girls out of human trafficking. Fair Girls will be highlighted in the film “A Path Appears.” RIJI Green will donate 20% of our retail sales to Fair Girls starting today till March 15, 2015. We will also have special sales on our wine totes and messenger bags with velcro closure. We are also offering free shipping for orders $25 or more.

Put Love in your budget for Valentine’s gifts, treat yourself to something special, or stock up on presents with gifts that keeps on giving from RIJI Green! Shop RIJI Green & Empower Survivors of Human Trafficking! Together we can put a dent on modern slavery and poverty!

RIJI Green’s seed began, when I was helping a human trafficking survivor, *Lucy to reintegrate back into society. I taught her literacy and budget skills. But most importantly, being her friend whom she can trust. Lucy was trafficked twice for prostitution. I was so shocked and asked “How could you be trafficked twice?” Lucy shared her personal story with me. She struggled being a single mom living in poverty in Mexico. She was so desperate and hopeful to create a better future for her son that she became an easy target for traffickers.

The second time around, her trafficker, was a friend, who recommended her a restaurant job in the United States. Lucy leaped for that opportunity. She had her mother take care of her son in Mexico. The restaurant job turned out to be a brothel. There are 21-30 million slaves around the world today. Majority of them are women and children trafficked for the sex industry.

You see, my passion is to see slavery end, but what makes my heart sing, is to know RIJI Green is providing a real solution to prevent human sex trafficking through economic empowerment and prevent slavery from happening to the children of the survivors. This is generational freedom instead of generational slavery, which exist.

RIJI Green is honored to use our profits to support non-profits providing legal services for survivors of human trafficking. They put traffickers in jail and send a message, “traffickers cannot bully and profit from the poor & vulnerable men, women and children and get away with it.” Having traffickers in jail prevents and protects other susceptible people from slavery.

Out of darkness, there is hope and justice. RIJI Green is part of a network solution to end human trafficking. You can also be part of that network by being a responsible consumer, change maker, and 21^st century abolitionist.

Helping people and saving the planet are part of RIJI Green’s core values. For RIJI Green, selling more high quality eco-friendly products is not about revenue, it translate how many more at risk and survivors of human trafficking we can help by hiring them. Economic empowerment is the most sustainable long-term solution to break the cycle of poverty and slavery.

Go make a difference. Shop to Empower.